Pakistanis In Battle, Leader Admits

June 17, 1999|By DEXTER FILKINS Los Angeles Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Contradicting weeks of Pakistani denials, a military leader on Wednesday acknowledged that his nation's soldiers have been deeply involved all along in heavy fighting with India that first started early last month on the disputed border.

The admission came as military and diplomatic sources reported heavy troop movements along the Indo-Pakistani border, suggesting the two sides may be preparing for a larger war.

Pakistani Brig. Rashid Qureshi said that fighting with India began last month when Pakistani troops seized strategic posts along the mountainous border between the two South Asian nations. He insisted that Pakistani troops had not crossed into Indian territory along the disputed border. He also said Indian troops were suffering heavy casualties as they tried to push Pakistani soldiers off the peaks.

"The Indians are fighting the Pakistanis who seized the commanding heights," Qureshi said. "If we see the Indians, we shoot them. If they see us, they shoot us."

Qureshi's statement marked the first public admission that Pakistani troops were deeply involved in the fighting that broke out last month in the mountainous region of Kashmir. Until Wednesday, Pakistan's leaders had insisted that the Indians were battling a group of home-grown guerrillas seeking independence for the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. The Pakistanis had said that their troops had only fired on Indian soldiers along the border in self-defense.

India has charged Pakistan with invading its territory and has rushed thousands of troops to the northern border. Three Western diplomats who requested anonymity backed up India's version of events on Wednesday, saying that Pakistani soldiers on snowmobiles seized Indian posts atop the high mountain peaks.

The fighting has raised fears that a miscalculation on either side could trigger a wider war. Each side exploded nuclear devices last year, and the specter of nuclear weapons sets the fighting apart from previous conflicts in the region.

The Western diplomats and Pakistani officials on Wednesday reported the movement of thousands of troops on both sides of the border. The diplomats said the military activity was not yet large enough to signal a major offensive by either side, but they expressed alarm that the two nations were building up their forces in areas outside of Kashmir where the border is not in dispute. The Pakistanis said they were digging in for an Indian offensive.

"The threat is real," said Qureshi. "We are taking appropriate measures to defend ourselves."

The admission by the brigadier that his nation's troops were engaged in heavy fighting with the Indians came amid signs of Pakistan's growing diplomatic isolation. On Tuesday, President Clinton urged Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by phone to pull his troops back from the Indian side of the border -- even as Pakistani leaders were insisting that no such troops were there.